In the summer of 2016, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman charged Croman with 20 felonies, including harassing tenants at rent-regulated apartments within his various properties as well as falsifying rental income in order to secure as much as $45 million in financing. This fall, Croman plead guilty to charges of grand larceny, tax fraud, and an additional fraud charge relating to false statements.
— Curbed NY

The notorious Manhattan landlord Steve Croman, who owned nearly 150 buildings across the city, has agreed to pay $8 million to his former tenants, the largest-ever settlement with an individual landlord in the state. Additionally, he has been sentenced to serve one year of jail time at Rikers... View full entry

Amy Starecheski, oral historian, former squatter, and author of the recent book, Ours to Lose: When Squatters Become Homeowners in New York City, gathered a group who have been documenting the squatting movement from multiple perspectives, from firsthand experience to generational remove. Below, Amy guides us through some of the documents they have gathered and created: a graphic novel, a sketchbook with instructions for DIY electrical wiring, interviews, and installations...
— Urban Omnibus

Thanks to Amy Starecheski, the documentation of the gritty romance of squatting in city-abandoned NYC buildings in the 1980s and 1990s can now be perused, graphic-novel style: View full entry

Landlords have had a gripe with Airbnb for a while. The sharing platform facilitates subletting apartments without their consent or knowledge, not to mention a cut of the profits. Now, Airbnb is hoping to make amends by rolling out a new initiative dubbed the 'Airbnb Friendly Building Program'... View full entry